Hurricane Prep, But Make It Fitness 

We always say that strength training gets you ready for "real life" and hurricane season is a perfect example of that. From June to December, Floridians start stressing about “the cone.” Yet, many people aren’t in the right kind of physical shape for what the cone actually requires.

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Fact: hurricane prep injuries spike before landfall. We are talking ladder falls, backs blown out from moving generators, and shoulders wrecked from hanging shutters. 

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Let's break down what hurricane prep actually demands.

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Sandbaggin' it

A filled sandbag weighs at least 35 to 40 pounds. You're not moving just one, you're moving fifteen or twenty, from the hardware store to your trunk, from your trunk to your doorways. That's hundreds of pounds of awkward, shifting weight, picked up off the ground, in the heat.

Moving sandbags safely requires a deadlift into a carry, repeated for volume, under heat stress. If the heaviest thing you've picked up this year is a carry-on bag, your spine isn’t ready. For those of you who have been to our sessions and done sandbag holds, carries, and ground-to-shoulder... you are ready!

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There's a lot going on with plywood

A sheet of plywood weighs 50 to 60 pounds, which sounds manageable until you try to carry one. It's four feet by eight feet, it catches the wind, and there's nowhere good to hold it. The challenge isn't just strength. It's grip, core stability, and the ability to control a load that's actively trying to control you. Sound familiar? That's every awkward carry we've ever made you do.

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The generator deadlift

Portable generators run 100 to 200 pounds, and they live in the worst possible spot: the back corner of the garage. Getting one out is typically a deadlift with terrible technique, usually performed in a hurry. Those of you who are used to performing heavy hinging exercises properly are way more bulletproof.

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Ladders, shutters, and overhead work...oh my!

Hanging shutters or clearing gutters means climbing a ladder, balancing, and working with your arms overhead while holding tools. That's single-leg stability, overhead strength, and grip endurance. In the gym, that looks like single-leg work, hanging, pulling, and pressing.

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Look back at that list. Deadlifts. Loaded carries. Grip work. Step-ups. Overhead pressing. Work capacity. That's not a hurricane prep program we invented for this article. That's just training for life. The stuff our members do every week happens to be a near-perfect match for the worst day of yard work Mother Nature can throw at you.

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Storm season runs through the end of November. That's enough time to become someone it can't hurt as easily.